Homemade etching machine

[stiletto]

Heya all.

I am in the process of making my own etching machine, and haven't made decent progress. I've seen the personalizer and such, but I'm one of those people that like to make my own tools.

I have a power supply that has about the same power outpout as the personalize plus, but all I'm getting instead of an etch, is rust.

What should I be using for an electrolyte?
If anyone has built one, do you have any suggestions?

Jamie
a.k.a. Stiletto

 

[Parabellum 9]

Pour a quart of warm water and dissolve as much copper sulfate as it wlll absorb. (Copper sulfate is available in hardware stores for root removal from drains.)
I used to place a thin pioece of felt cut from an old fishing hat over the stencil, tape in place, and make contact with the saturated felt using a piece of copper rod on the + and use a fahnstock clip on the - attached to part of the workpiece. Keep the copper rod tightly against the felt and keep it moving over the entire printing area of the stencil.
I used an eyedropper to saturate the felt.
I made my own stencils from mimeograph stencils.
If you remember, in a previous thread a contributor suggested using a sports drink as the basis of the electrolyte, since it contains electrolytes to begin with. I have not tried this, but used distilled water for the basis of mine.
Right after the etching, clean off the workpiece with a detergent and flush with hot water, then protect the surface with light grease to prevent after rust.
Incidentally, I used a 16 volt bell transformer with good results.

[This message has been edited by Parabellum 9 (edited 07 November 1999).]